Yoga

So I am super late with this post. I tried Yoga back in late October but here's my thoughts, just a month late ;)

So there's a Yoga class after the step class I do on Saturday night. My friend Patti joined me for step and suggested we stay for Yoga. I've never done Yoga before so I agreed to stay. I knew it wouldn't be a cardio workout but it would strengthen without a big impact of my knees (genetic bad knees here). I did tell the instructor I was a rookie and she was very sweet. We stood to the side so we weren't front and center. My embarrassment has to be a bit hidden. People do Yoga barefoot, which at the gym is a bit weird when you think about it. Patti took her shoes (and socks!) off so I followed suit. I grabbed the mat I use during TBC but the instructor grabbed me an actual yoga mat. My mat was more padded but it does expand/stretch, which made holding stable positions hard. Throughout class I just followed others because I had no idea what the words the instructor said meant. Yoga has it's own language! Some positions were super hard and the instructor was great! She kept an eye on me and physically readjusted me a few times. The biggest surprise to me was how hard transitioning was, I tried to do it smoothly (like everyone else dis) but sometimes I just had to be ungraceful and plop down. I didn't get as much stretching as I thought I would. I had hoped Yoga would make me more flexible but I'm not sure about that. Overall, it obviously isn't cardio but it was a good class. I wasn't too sore and I felt stronger for having done it. The best part was the few minutes at the end where we laid down in the dark with soothing music playing and relaxed. I need to do that more often. I can take 5 minutes to lay in bed and decompress at the end of the day. It was a bit "new age-y" with the comments about being grateful for our bodies yada, yada, yada but that's not a bad thing. I am just grateful to God for my body rather then being grateful to my body. :)

I've gone a couple times since and really enjoy it. It's a tough class at times and my body doesn't bend like others in the class but I'll get there. It allows me to mix things up!